Campus Corner, as today’s students know it, is a fairly new scene. The original Campus Corner was developed in the early 1900s to serve the needs of the students and faculty of the University of Oklahoma.
Before the university constructed the residential towers south of campus, all student housing was located north of Boyd Street, even Greek housing, and students were not allowed to have cars on campus. Therefore, it was necessary for students to have access to establishments within walking distance.
One of the original establishments was at 575 University and it housed a bookstore, school supplies shop, and restaurant on the ground floor. It was known as the “Tee Pee” because of its dance floor on the third level.
A tragic fire in 1929 destroyed most of what had begun on Campus Corner, but thankfully that led to further expansion later on.
The original building at 575 University became home to Rickner’s Bookstore and the ballroom became known as “The Organ Grinder” for a time until Randy Ratcliffe purchased the bookstore upon Ray Rickner's retirement and continued to serve OU students for books and school supplies.
In 1935, McCall’s, which is currently Harold’s, opened for business. Harold Powell, the owner of Harold’s, began his clothing career at McCall’s while still in high school.
In 1947 the Boomer Theater was constructed. The theater stopped showing movies in the mid 1970s when concerts became its primary use. All that remains now is the marquee.
By the 1950s, Campus Corner and downtown Norman were both booming. OU’s enrollment was increasing, as was then President George Lynn Cross’s campus building project. At that time, Berry Road was considered west Norman.
In the 1970s, malls and strip centers began to spring up farther west of campus near I-35.
The Red Dirt Café, which was a local hot spot for hordes of sailors and bobbysoxers throughout World War II and the anchor of the music scene in the 1980s, has been purchased by Rob Goodner from Tim O’Brien and reopened as the Red Dirt Bar & Grill.
But that’s not the only change that has been made on Campus Corner. Five years ago Campus Corner was a ghost town, but since the Sooners won the National Championship in 2000 the area has slowly began to grow.
Some of the major additions to Campus Corner since that victory include a number of bars, restaurants, and shoe, accessory, and clothing shops.
The top bars include Louie’s Deli & Bar, which occupies the former Campus Corner landmark Town Tavern, Logan’s Sports Bar, which is located in the old Quarterhouse, Al Eschbach’s Hall of Fame Sports Bar & Grill, which opened in what many years ago was a TG&Y variety store, Seven47, which is a trendy restaurant-bar located in an art deco building with a rooftop patio that for many years was University Cleaners, and The Deli, a late-night bar that for years has featured some of the best-received musical groups in the area.
The top restaurants include La Luna Mexican Restaurant, which was formerly the Lovelight Restaurant and, before that, the Copper Kettle, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Lori Treisa’s Ruby’s All Night Diner, Turquoise Café, The Pita Pit, the long standing Hideaway Pizza, New York Pizza & Pasta, and the newest and most interesting sandwich shop, Fat Sandwich.
Clothing venues include Aisle7, Olive J's, Antique Garden, Harold’s, Tulips, Shoetopia, Savvy, and this year’s newest addition Lucca’s.
Rainey Powell, Campus Corner Merchant’s Association President, told Hub Staff Writer Lauren Lagor in a March 28, 2007 article that eleven new merchants would be joining the Campus Corner scene by August.
With the approval of the new swim complex, changes being made on the south side of campus are also affecting Campus Corner.
Over the summer Jimmy John’s moved from its corner location to a smaller venue next door, and a new Starbucks now dominates the corner as the first big name company to invade an area once home to only local establishments.
In the next month, O’Connell’s Irish Pub will be moving into the former home of Al Eschbach’s Hall of Fame Bar and Grill.
Pad Thai, another venue being relocated to make room for the new swim complex, is renovating the space at 119 West Boyd and will be moving into it soon.
Norman’s only hookah bar, Moe’s International Grocery and Hookah Bar, will be staying at it location on the south end of campus one more year before relocating. Owner Moe Davani is unsure where his store will move to, but he told Oklahoma Daily writer Mary Gray in a Sept. 9, 2007 article that he would like to be either near the intersection of Lindsey Street and Classen Boulevard or off Asp Avenue on Campus Corner.
Since the commencement of classes about a month ago, students and football fans alike have been enjoying the new and improved Campus Corner. Hopefully, we will continue to see improvements in the future.
--Briana Johnson
# ranting @
2:33 PM
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007
BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse is one of the newest and most popular restaurants in Norman, OK. It opened May 10, 2007 and is located between Lindsey St. and Main St. off of I-35.
It is a branch of the original BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria born in Santa Ana, California that has exploded across the nation in the last ten years. Since the opening in Norman, the company has opened another store in Oklahoma City, Tampa, FL, and McAllen, Texas and five new restaurants opening by Winter 2007.
Granted a party of nine is a bit of a struggle for even the more proficient waiters, letting a table sit for fifteen minutes without drinks is unacceptable and going thirty minutes without taking any orders is outrageous. Another thirty minutes was spent biting nails to subdue hunger until the food arrived. Within ten minutes, two pizzas, three chicken pastas, two sandwiches, a bowl of soup, an order of bruchetta, and a cup of spinach and artichoke dip had been devoured, though it would take another twenty just to get paid out.
On the up side, the food is impeccable and the décor is unique. The first sight is the back wall. It is the bar and an enormous set of shelves lined with every kind of liquor imaginable with an immaculate television right in the middle. Across from the bar, floor to ceiling windows give a beautiful view of I-35 and Main St. At the base of the windows, large plush circular booths accommodate two to six guests, and at the top of the windows, four flat screen televisions are placed evenly to give every table a view of the game.
With nine guests, trying several of the items on the menu was easy, and there is no doubt that everyone could find something that meets his or her tastes. Make sure to try one of their handcrafted beers and the famous pizookie.
—Briana Johnson
# ranting @
11:17 PM
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
A magical red umbrella and a reference to ‘Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious!’ does not characterize “The Nanny Diaries” as a “modern-day Mary Poppins.” If you were to make a “modern-day Mary Poppins,” at least make it a decent movie.
“The Nanny Diaries,” directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, was based on the novel The Nanny Diaries, written by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus.
Though the directors cast of some of today’s well-known stars like Scarlet Johanssen, Paul Giamatti, Laura Linley, Donna Murphy, and Chris Evans, the movie was bland and lacked a primary theme.
The movie begins with Annie Braddock (Johanssen) a college graduate who is unsure what to do with her life now. After an “unexpected” run-in with a wealthy young boy and his mother in Central Park, Annie goes to work for the Upper East Side family as their nanny. The movie was full of countless clichés: saving her future charge from being run over in the park while his mother is nowhere to be found, being forced to live in a shoe box of a room next to the washing machine, catching Mr. X cheating on his wife, and catching the eye of the rich “Harvard Hottie” who lives on the 12th floor of the apartment building. The movie was so unbelievably predictable it was funny.
The one thing the directors got right was the cast. Nicholas Reese Art plays Grayer, the spoiled, lonely, fun-deprived, adorable little boy with the biggest brown eyes you’ve ever seen. He is by far the best actor in the movie and the most developed character. Johanssen’s performance was mediocre. Her emotions seemed forced at times, but who can blame her with the script she had to work with. Laura Linley does a decent job as bitchy self-centered Mrs. X, and Paul Giamatti does a fantastic job playing the workaholic father with maybe two lines total.
The only reason to see this movie would be to compare it to the novel, but be forewarned that it will be an outrageous disappointment. The film was a cheesy cliché that should have never made it past screening.
--Briana Johnson
# ranting @
1:10 PM
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Monday, September 03, 2007
Best Friends, by Martha Moody was first published June 4, 2002. It was Moody’s first attempt at a novel, and a bit of a rocky one. Though, Best Friends was named a National Bestseller, the book received countless negative reviews. The story, told in first person through the main character, Claire Mann, chronicles 20 or so years of a friendship between Claire and Sally that birthed during their freshman year of college as roommates. Together they go through deaths, births, new jobs, and a slew of men.
Moody is fairly new to the writing scene. A physician from Dayton, Ohio, her first piece of literature was short story titled “Like the Arrival of Angels” that was a finalist for The Best American Short Stories. She also occasionally writes articles for the Dayton Jewish Observer under the byline Martha Moody Jacobs.
Most readers say Best Friends is missing one key detail: a dramatic ending. After numerous dramatic scenes of death, drug use, and pornography, it leaves readers expecting something tragic to end the twisted tale of these two friends. However, the fact that no such dramatic ending exists enhances the reality of the novel. Rarely in life are there dramatic endings that solve all the problems. People, or in this case characters, must learn to cope with their hardships and go on living.
Moody uses an adequate amount of dialogue that is both clear and concise to portray her characters. However, oftentimes there is no attribution indicating who is saying what. Re-reading the passage may be necessary to get the full grasp of the scene. However, Moody also employs a soliloquy-like prose in which Claire’s thoughts run rampant. These long entries of her thoughts are responsible for much of the plot and character development. This method is adequate based on the style of the novel as a whole, but a bit juvenile as a writing style.
A suggested audience for Best Friends is females between the ages of 18 and 40 because anyone between those ages can relate to the college experience, marriage, divorce, or childbearing. Aspects of the novel such as the pornography and the AIDS epidemic restrict the novel to at least a PG-13 level and limit the audience around 40s due to cultural differences.
Since the publication of Best Friends, Moody has written her second novel titled The Office of Desire that was released Aug. 2, 2007.
--Briana Johnson
